PATIENTS and visitors to the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford are facing a hike in car parking charges from Monday (April 1).

Under the current system of two-hourly tariffs, using the car park costs £2 for up to two hours, £4 for up to four hours and £6 for up to six hours.

But from next week, car parking will be subject to new hourly rates, with a minimum charge of £2 for the first hour and £1 per hour thereafter for a stay of up to six hours.

This means motorists will have to pay an extra £1 every time they use the hospital car park.

However, there will be a price drop for patients and visitors staying between six and 24 hours from £10 to £8. A visit to the oncology department will remain the same at £1.50 and a weekly ticket of £15 will be unchanged.

A hospital spokesman said the change would provide a greater degree of flexibility by allowing patients to pay hourly rates rather than being restricted to the two-hour price bands.

The spokesman added that the increase would pay for improvements to parking arrangements at the Egerton Road hospital, including an additional 32 spaces and an alternative payment system, such as paying at the exit rather than upon entry.

Alf Turner, director of organisational transformation, explained: “Current patient and visitor parking at the Royal Surrey County Hospital is unable to cope with peak demand.

“These changes address the need for more spaces now and, in our long-term planning, we will also change the system.

“We recognise that many users dislike the current pay-and-display system and the top-up facility, so we’re looking at other systems such as pay on exit and automatic number plate recognition, as well as providing the opportunity for card payments.

“To make these improvements we have to change our current parking charges.”

Presently at peak times, vehicles can be seen queuing for spaces.

Parking charges at the hospital were last increased in 2005 and the new change will come into effect for visitors and patients using the pay-and-display at the front of the hospital from Monday.

All disabled blue badge holders will continue to have free parking in designated bays.

“We want our patients and visitors to have the best possible experience when visiting the Royal Surrey County Hospital,” Mr Turner said.

“The additional revenue from these new charges will provide us with the means to fund the changes required to improve our parking. “This allows us to direct as much funding as possible towards treating our patients and providing them with the best quality health care and treatment.”